Man jailed after homemade bomb exploded in vehicle

I didn’t always want to be a journalist. In fact, when I was younger my dream was to be an archaeologist – who wouldn’t want to be like Indiana Jones? However, now that I am a journalist, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else with my life.
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I’m a Queenslander through and though. Mackay is the furthest south I have ever lived. I’m an only child and I was raised in Airlie Beach.
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THIS is the Mackay man responsible for a homemade bomb that exploded inside a vehicle and injured him and three others.

Adam Leslie Dempster liked creating bombs and then detonating them. But on June 4, 2011, his plan to set off a homemade explosive device in front of three mates went horribly wrong.

Dempster, then 22, text his friend Wade Kelly asking if he wanted to watch the bomb explode. Wade agreed and said two others would also come along - Todd Hoffman and Regan McLaughlin.

Wade was driving and the other two were already in the ute when they picked up Dempster, who had the bomb in a backpack, the District Court in Mackay heard yesterday.

He placed the backpack on the floor in the back of the vehicle and climbed in. When the vehicle was on Keeley's Rd, the bomb exploded, crown prosecutor Brendan Manttan said. Todd received life-threatening injuries and required surgery. Wade had burns to 14% of his body and had to be placed on a ventilator. Regan received burns to 5-10% of his body. The bomb didn't have an "arming switch", which would have prevented it going off, the court heard.

Dempster, now 24, was also injured in the blast with burns to his face, arms and legs. He pleaded guilty yesterday to carrying dangerous goods in a vehicle, wilful damage endangering life and three counts of grievous bodily harm.

Mr Manttan played a YouTube clip in court made by Dempster and titled "my bomb compilation" showing explosions made by various bombs he had constructed.

Defence barrister Bronwyn Hartigan, instructed by Morton Lawyers, said some responsibility must also lie with the other three because they knowingly went along to watch the device explode. Todd and Wade were in court to support Dempster.

Ms Hartigan submitted that a wholly suspended sentence was within the court's range.

Judge Michael Shanahan disagreed, but he accepted Ms Hartigan's submission there was no intention. "It was grossly reckless and dangerous," Judge Shanahan said. Dempster was jailed for 2 1/2 years, which will be suspended after six months.